Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page

Sabaki List Member Profiles

This page will feature profiles on members of the Sabaki Talk Discussion List.
Members are listed in alphabetical order. New members to be added in due course.

Jeffrey Teagle - USA
My name is Jeffrey Teagle. I started my karate training under two gentlemen (Jack E. Swift and Scott Self) of Yoshukai Karate (Katsuoh Yamamoto). I briefly trained (just a few months) in Judo with Sensei Al Schmidt of Kodokan. After spending 7 years with Yoshukai, I found it unfulfilling to my greater needs and started my search for an art that was more satisfying to my hunger.
I started work as an offset printer in Columbus Georgia at the age of 20. It is there to my amazement that I found my soon to be next Sensei. Through conversation over the next few weeks, I found that this person knew a very great deal about a system called Okinawan Goju-Ryu. I was shocked to say the least.
So it started. It wasn't many days after i first began working at the print shop that I found myself training 3 or 4 times a week with Sensei Mathew Henderson and his brother, my good friend Lance Henderson and my Sempai. We have been together and training since 1989. My newest friend is of an organization called Okinawa Goshukan Ryu. His name is Sensei Garry Parker. We all (Sensei Henderson, Sempai Henderson and Sensei Parker)train together from time to time and exposeeach other to our various arts. The world would be a much better place if everyone conducted themselves as well as these three above mentioned gentlemen do.

Shariefa Khan-Thebus - Trinidad
I am Shariefa Thebus. I am formerly from a suburb of Cape Town and, besides a brief sojourn in England, have spent all my life there. Since getting married, I moved to Trinidad in the West Indies. I am 35 years of age and started my karate training in 1994, so it was quite an adjustment. I trained with Senpai Hoosain Narker at Ashihara Karate. I am currently at 3rd kyu level. Unfortunately I have had a one year interruption in my training, but I plan to restart in the near future. I initially started training purely for the sake of self-defense and ended up continuing with karate.Training at karate, in addition to the physical benefits, has given me a sense of inner confidence so that even though I am not able to defend myself effectively yet, I feel more in control.

Paul Thoresen -USA
"I have been training in a Kyokushin-based style since 1987. In 2000 I joined the United States Kyokushin Karate Organization. My Branch Chief is Tom Flynn, Shihan. I currently teach Kyokushin,
and enjoy watching students develop their technique and spirit. I prefer contact in sparring as it lets you know what works, and what doesn't. Favorite Kata are: Seienchin, Garyu, and Seipai. I am open to training with other serious-minded martial artists, and occasionally train with individuals from other Kyokushin Dojo, Ashihara, and other disciplines."

I am in the middle of a career transition and working as a Research Analyst for a Market Research company. Also, I am a part-time graduate student at Bowling Green State University.

Paul Thwaites - Jamaica
"Jui Fushin Kai" karate which is break away from Seido in Jamaica is a Japanese art. Quite nicely, there appears to be no hard feelings between the two school as one of their black belts has just started training at our dojo.

As I said before, I am actually quite new to this even though I have followed the martial arts intellectually for some years. I did my first grading for a coloured belt not too long ago and could not quite believe the feeling of accomplishment that I felt in hearing unofficially that I had been successful and will be awarded my blue belt.
In Fushin Kai we go as follows: White - Blue - Yellow - Green - Brown - Black.
You must understand that at age forty three I kind of got tired of the doctors telling me that I needed to get fit or face serious grief!! I have five children and so far I have four of them in the dojo, so it was an easy step to joining them. With me in there and getting my wife to join, I have had to negotiate a group rate on my membership fees!!!
Having gotten involved, I have already organized and put on our first tournament earlier this year. Having learnt from our mistakes (of which there were many) we have plans to make it into an international tournament within the next two or three years. Without ambition, there is nothing, eh...

Without overstating the case, it has been the best thing that I have done for myself in a long while.

Des Tuck - USA
BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND

    PERSONAL HISTORY
1954        Born in Durban, South Africa
1978        Immigrated to San Francisco, USA
1983        Graduated from San Francisco Law School
1984        Admitted to California Bar
1985-present    Sole practitioner - Law Offices of Desmond B. Tuck, San Mateo, California

Married with two children. Resident of Palo Alto, California.

MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING/CREDENTIALS

1964-65               Kodokwai Institute, Durban, South Africa, judo and karate
1970-present        Student of Shihan Leo Lipinski, present head of Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai,
                           England and JKF Goju Kai, Europe
1972-74               Student of Shihan Stuart Booth, present head of Goju Ryu Kenwa-Kai, South Africa
1973-74               Student of Shihan Stan Schmidt, Shotokan, South Africa
1974                    Graded to Shodan - Karate-do Goju Kai, Durban, South Africa
1976                    Graded to Nidan by Shihan Goshi Yamaguchi. Appointed by him as Authorized
                           Instructor and Authorized Branch Head, Karate-do Goju Kai, South Africa.
1977                    Graded to Sandan-Ho - Karate-do Goju Kai, Johannesburg, South Africa
1985                    Graded to Sandan - Karate-do Goju Kai, South Africa
1992                    Sandan confirmed in both Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai and under JKF Goju
                           Kai, London, England.
1996                    Graded to Yondan - Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai, England
1997                    Graded to Yondan - JKF Goju Kai in London, England

TOURNAMENT INVOLVEMENT/ PARTICIPATION

1974        South African Championships, Durban, South Africa
1987        USA Team member, Pan American Maccabiah, Caracas, Venezuela
1993        Manager, USA karate team to World Maccabiah, Israel
1995        Coach of San Francisco Bay Area karate team to Youth Maccabiah, Long Island, New York.
1997        Coach of San Francisco Bay Area karate team to Youth Maccabiah, Seattle, Washington.
1999        Coach of San Francisco Bay Area karate team to Youth Maccabiah, Rochester, New York.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1973-1978       Instructor, Karate-do Goju Kai, South Africa.
1977-1978       Chief Instructor, Transvaal province, Karate-do Goju Kai, South Africa.
1990-present    Chief Instructor, JCC Maccabi Karate Club, Palo Alto, California
1992                Formed Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai, USA with Vassie Naidoo, Chief Instructor.
1992-present    President, Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai, USA

INTERNATIONAL TRAINING/SEMINARS

1976        Shihan Goshi Yamaguchi, Johannesburg, South Africa
1990        IOGKF Seminar, San Diego, California with Shihan Morio Higaonna
1992        JKF Goju Kai Seminar, London, England - Shihan Shuji Tasaki, Shihan Takeo
               Ohga, Shihan Seiichi Fujiwara, Shihan Leo Lipinski,
1996        Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai Seminars in London, England, Budapest,
               Hungary, St. Pölten, Austria, and Bratislava, Slovakia, with Shihan Seiichi Fujiwara,
               Shihan Leo Lipinski.
1997        JKF Goju Kai seminars in Nitra, Slovakia and London, England, with Shihan Shuji
               Tasaki, Shihan Takeo Ohga, Shihan Akira Shiomi, Shihan Seiichi Fujiwara, Shihan
               Leo Lipinski.
               Karate-do Seiwa Kai Seminar, Santa Monica, California with Shihan Leo Lipinski.
1998        Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai Seminar, Santa Monica, California with Shihan Leo Lipinski
               Tibon's Goju Ryu Seminar, Lodi, California 1999
                Goju Ryu Karate-do Seiwa Kai Seminar, Santa Monica, California with Shihan Leo Lipinski.

OTHER

1999 President of JKF Goju Kai, California branch (sole authorized US branch)

Return to Home Page

Updated by Hoosain Narker